Getting home and remembering the Apache Trail

We got back to Tennessee late Thursday, 3/1, just before all the tornadoes arrived on Friday.  I had been watching the weather all week, checking the internet for forecasts of the cities we would go through.  In Dallas we had to decide if we would head north to Arkansas or stay straight toward Louisiana.  This was about the time Branson, Mo got hit and we choose to head east instead of NE.  In Chattanooga most of our bad storms come up from the SW, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa area.  I knew that we had to drive through these cities and would be on the tornado path on Friday unless we pushed hard.

greetings from my yard

grape hyacinths

It felt great to get home!  Just seeing all the green on the roadsides excited me.  The first jonquils were sighted east of Dallas before we hit LA.  Then the redbuds started appearing along with the red maples and carolina jasmine was hanging from the pines in Mississippi.

We have been back about a week now and I have been trying to think of a fitting way to end this chronicle.  I want to post a few more pictures of the day trip we took on the Apache Trail.  This road was AZ 88 from Apache Junction through Tortilla Flatts, up over mountains, down into Fish Creek, past Apache Lake and Roosevelt Dam.  It was an old native american route that was eventually made into a road. We were on 20 to 25 miles of rough, washboard dirt that took many hours to complete.

Apache Lake

Apache Lake

view down to Fish Creek

David and I have memories that will last the rest of our lives.   We don't plan to stay still long..Next year, Alaska?

On our way home

We are on our way home.  This is our 3rd night on the road and we are currently camped in a Corp of Engineers park, Lake Benbrook, just south of Fort Worth.  The temp was 71 the last time I checked and the wind is whistling through the live oaks overhead.  I-20 E has been a struggle all day due to a ferocious wind.  But currently it is quite pleasant and not scary like last night at Monahans Sandhills State Park where the constant battering gusts made sound sleep impossible.  (I was so glad that we were still hooked up to the truck....thought we were going to be blown away.)

I am so sorry for not writing more but the isolation of the desert relaxed me to the point where I did not even want to communicate.  And the lack of internet access has helped me to break some of my electronic addictions.  Maybe on another day I will be able to describe what it felt to live in a canyon so close to nature and so far from the city.  Incredible  memories!

Quartzsite Gathering

I am tucked away in a corner of the Quartzsite McDonald's and the crowds are not too bad considering it is a Saturday morning.  I left my husband back at camp this time as I was needing to catch up with emails and business.  Quartzsite continues to amaze me with the collection of people that are drawn here.  I just saw a pick-up loaded maybe 20 feet up in the air with stuff...can't say it was junk..it may have been all their possessions.

Buckskin Mtn

We spent five nights at the pre-Quartzsite Casita gathering held at Buckskin MTN State Park.  This was in Parker, AZ and was on the Colorado River.  A beautiful place!  It was the first time on the trip that we were down to our short sleeved tees and warm most of the time.  I don't know how many Casitas, ects, showed but I think it was about 25 trailers.  We just about took over the campground.

Colorado River----entrance to park

morning moon over dome rock

our camp with dome rock in background

sunrise

sunset

Thursday we relocated 50 miles south to the Dome Rock area of Quartzsite.  We came in a day later than the crowd and camped with another Casita and 13 ft Scamp who were also first timers to this monumental event.  We settled in the back "40" and within hours we were surrounded by other eggs.  Last night was spent swapping stories with a couple from Phoenix who also had their share of learning experiences.  We plan to stay until Monday and then hit the road heading back toward Phoenix.

We are beginning to think about home as there is just a few weeks left in our time in the sun.  I am hoping that we will be welcomed by blooming jonquils and lenten roses.

We think we are going back to our first campsite at Tortilla Flatts for the remaining time but that could change.  I have loved the unstructured life with no yard or housework and already feel sad when I think of ending the trip.  But other adventures await us and we will be seeing some of our new friends again on the road.

Now it's time to head out of McDonald's ( a bus is coming in) return to Casitaville in the desert!


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Quartzsite and Joshua Tree N. P.

I am sitting in McDonald's in Twenty Nine Palms, California and trying my best to write.  I know it has been a long time since I have posted anything and it is mostly due to the lack of internet connection.
We have been camped at Indian Cove in the Joshua Tree National Park (CA) since last Monday, 1/30....leaving tomorrow heading for Buckskin MTN State Park in AZ.

This has been the most amazing place!  We are camped up in the mountains nestled in among ancient rocks.  There has been almost no one in the campground all week and we have had the outhouse all to ourselves!  I never imagined that having an outhouse (pit toilet) would feel like luxury.  But after dry camping in the desert at Quartzsite for 6 days with a malfunctioning sewer system, this convenience is extremely appreciated!

Yesterday we hiked a 3 mile moderately difficult trail to Forty Nine Palms Canyon.  We did not see any Joshua Trees but the palms were amazing to find tucked in the back of the canyon.

Must not leave out a picture of a Joshua Tree!


We spent one night at a county park, Lake Pleasant, on our way from Phoenix to Quartzsite and the whole experience at Quartzsite will need to wait for another day.  The most amazing thing was finding the people that we met in Tortilla and camping with them.  There were 80,000 to 100,000 RVers there and we found them!  We just looked where the Casita people usually go...Dome Rock area...and David spotted the unusual looking fifth wheel Escape that they had.

We spent 6 nights camped below the Dome Rock (Quartzsite) with 5 other egg campers, two Escapes, one Casita and two Bigfoots.  These people were from Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico and knew each other from previous gatherings.

The RV show was fun and my fears of feeling too crowded did not materialize, mostly because of the spaciousness of the desert.  Yes, it was crowded in town and we had to wait in line some but returning to our little private peace of real estate among the cactus made it worthwhile.

We have enjoyed the solitude in the rocks this week but are looking forward to attending the pre-Quartzsite Casita gathering tomorrow back over in Arizona.  Not sure at this moment if we will be returning to Dome Rock on the 10th but we probably will. I might miss something since there should be over 60 Casitas there.

The solar panels will be packed this afternoon
and after another long winter desert night we'll be heading out tomorrow.

Leaving Tortilla

With many regrets we left Tortilla campground two days ago.  It was time to move on to the next adventure and we had an appointment with Camping World to fix a leak in our gray water system.  It was sad to say goodbye to the canyon and to our lovely neighbors, Laurie and Tony, who shared their campfire many nights.

Looking down into Fish Creek on the Apache Trail

I am trying to remember what we did this past week....We took a drive past the town(?) of Tortilla Flatts up a twisty, windy road to the top of the mountain where the pavement ended.  We had been told that it was a gorgeous drive over to Roosevelt Lake but we went no farther than an overlook about 6 miles up.

Another day we went on a hike led by a forest volunteer and learned to identify many of the desert plants. I can identify the teddy bear cholla, chain fruit cholla and christmas cholla.  I love to be able to identify plants!

One morning we discovered two Escapes from Texas had made camp on the level above us.  (Hello to Ranger Duke and friends!)  Our meeting with them has given us to question our travel plans.  They were on their way to Quartzsite and let us know that we would be missing the best part, the RV show, if we did not get there this week.
I am not sure if I can handle the crowds around the town and the show but we may be here only once and do not want to miss anything important!
So tomorrow we will see!  It maybe time to head west on to the real desert camping experience without any facilities.

Apache Trail scenic

Canyon Lake Marina

Tortilla Campground

I am sitting in a Burger King in Apache Junction so determined to post something before I make the trek back through the mtns to our campsite.  We have been at Tortilla campground in the Tonto National Forest for the past week.  There is no cell phone coverage there, nor an internet signal.
Such a wonderful place!  I saw my first desert lake, Canyon Lake, last Monday.  All so different from what we are accustomed to back east.  The campground has about 70 sites, all with water and sewer hookups.  The bathrooms have running water but no showers.  I was expecting pit toilets for the grand price of 3 dollars a day!

We have hiked and cooked and visited with many nice people.  On my first hike I had an encounter with the cholla cactus.  Very unpleasant as they have little barbs at the end of the spines.
While climbing the big mountain that overlooks camp, I thought that I might die. The last part was done one all fours.  But at the top, there was a moment that I did not feel 62....more like the 22 year old that still lurks inside of me.

We are still learning about survival in the desert without electricity.  In the back of the truck is our new solar panel system that we have just purchased.  We have learned that we don't need to run the heater all night.  That the comforter and an extra blanket keep us quite snug at night.

Wednesday night we learned that 3 showers without dumping and a leaking water faucet equals a flooded bathroom at 4 AM.  Crisis resolved with advice from fellow campers and a camphost that was willing to double as a plumber.

Canyon Lake

Tortilla Campground with Canyon Lake in background

Find Apache Junction, due east from Phoenix, and follow highway 88 up past Canyon Lake to Tortilla Flats to locate Tortilla Campground.